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Fireworks celebrating National Day drew some 250,000 locals and tourists to both sides of the Victoria Harbour on Monday night.

Starting at 9pm, the 23-minute extravaganza launched a total of 23,888 fireworks into the sky, telling the story of a young man from birth to maturity in eight scenes. The tale symbolised the growth of the nation.

The show began with simplified Chinese characters for “China” and a gold star – symbolising the national flag. Both patterns sparkled 10 times over the harbour.

Circles were also a pervasive theme, representing a full moon and the Mid-Autumn Festival that also fell on this weekend.

This year, crowds packed the lawn at the new government headquarters at Tamar, Admiralty, which offers a panorama of the harbour, as well as the usual sites such as the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The HK$6 million show costs less than last year’s, at more than HK$8 million, and is sponsored by the Association of the Hong Kong Members of Guangdong’s Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Committees.